Ruby in the Rough
by cockycute
Summary: Ruby takes Belle speed-dating to help her get over Rumplestiltskin, but after a chance meeting in the bathroom, Belle finds that what she's been looking for has been right in front of her the whole time.


"Speed Dating? Are you kidding me?!" Belle screamed at Ruby.  
"Hey! It's a good idea. You helped me when I was going to make a bad dating choice, now I'm helping you." Ruby's tone became more gentle. " I know you love Rumplestiltskin, but he's not good for you. He's a monster and I know that makes you want to change him, he will he never change. You have to move on. For your own sake. Please promise me you'll at least give speed dating a chance. I'll come with you, and if you hate it, then we can leave, but please, at least try it. For me." Ruby begged Belle. Belle let out a sigh.  
"All right. If you insist, but the moment that I feel creeped out, we're leaving."  
Ruby smiled. "Deal." They walked in and put on their name tags. They picked seats next to each other and listened while the rules were explained to them. Belle was embarrassed to admit to herself that she was actually starting to feel excited for speed dating. She had only been with two men in her entire life, Gaston and Rumplestiltskin, and neither one of them had allowed her to be the woman that she thought she was meant to be. With Gaston, she had always been trying to please him, she had molded herself into the subservient little trophy wife that she thought he had wanted. She had become a small little insignificant mouse, not the lion that she had always felt was inside of her. With Rumplestiltskin, she had been so worried about setting him off that she had walked on eggshells around him. She had spent every moment of their time together worrying about how to change him, and she'd had no time to worry about what qualities she wanted to change about herself. Maybe with this new man, she'd be able to worry about herself. To be who she wanted to be. She smiled. Ecstatic about the possibilities that the future held.  
Ruby's speed-dating experience was turning into a nightmare. Every guy that she'd sat across from had tried way too hard to impress her. She wanted someone who could be herself around Ruby. Whoops! Did she just think her instead of him. She'd heard of misspeaking, but never of misthinking. Was it even possible? She had no idea where that thought had come from. Sure, Ruby had dated a few women in the past, but she had never planned a future with them. She shoved the thought out of her mind as her next date sat across from her.  
"Hey, how are you?" He asked her.  
"I'm good, how are you?"  
"Good."  
"So..."  
Ruby smiled awkwardly while her date desperately searched for a topic of conversation. She didn't feel like asking anything off of her question sheet.  
"I have to go to the bathroom." Ruby blurted to get away from her awkward date. She absentmindedly walked over to the bathroom and accidentally bumped into Belle.  
"Sorry." She said out of obligation, then did a double take when she realized who it was.  
"Hey! Shouldn't you be speed-dating?" She asked Belle.  
"Yeah, it was just kind of awkward, but I didn't want to leave in case you were having fun, so I decided to go to the bathroom for a while to collect myself."  
Ruby smiled. "Great minds think alike. I'm sorry you're not having fun. I thought that this could be something that we could do together to get your mind off of Rumplestiltskin."  
"It's fine. I was having fun, until I met a man who reminded me of my ex-boyfriend Gaston. It just brought back some bad memories, and then I couldn't focus on the rest of my dates. I just kept remembering his face, and thinking about how he's probably here, in Storybrooke, waiting for me to come back to him to be his little pet, to serve him like the mindless little wife he sees me as." Belle's voice starting choking up.  
"Hey. Belle, look at me." Ruby gently pulled Belle's chin up, until she was looking into her friend's deep, intense, soulful aquamarine eyes. Those eyes that looked like the icy lake in the village that she was born in. Those eyes that felt like home to her. She continued. "You are more than that. You're more than just a mindless little trophy wife or a pet. You are an amazing, brave, intelligent woman. When I see you smile, my day gets a little brighter. When I see you cry, I ache to comfort you. You are not a prisoner, or a victim. You are a fighter. You are a survivor. You haven't let your bad relationships tear you down. You have come out stronger. You make me want to be stronger. I love you Belle." Tears streamed down Belle's face and Ruby leaned in to kiss her. Belle kissed her back and she felt electricity all over her body. Their chaste little kiss felt more erotic to Ruby than any kinky act that she'd done with anyone else. Belle pushed Ruby into the bathroom stall, and Ruby was glad that she was acting like the aggressive Belle that Ruby had always known she was meant to be, not the passive Belle that Ruby had always seen. Belle pushed her against the wall and tore off Ruby's shirt. Ruby peeled off Belle's dress and taught Belle everything she'd learned from her few relationships with women. Belle forgot all about Gaston and Rumplestiltskin and everything else. In that moment, for the first time in her life, she wasn't worrying about the past or the future, she was living completely in the present.  
After Belle had given Ruby her own happy ending, Ruby and Belle walked back to their tables to continue their dates. After they had sat down, they looked at each other, their eyes meeting from across the room. Belle smiled at each Ruby, knowing that the only person who understood her, the only person who fully let her be who she truly was and who she wanted to be was sitting across the room from her, sharing her secret smile. She looked back at her date, happy that she'd found what she'd been looking for, even if it hadn't been where she'd expected to find it.


End file.
